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Today sees three celebration-worthy announcements for the UK games industry: the creation of a new independent video game development studio called Pretty Cool Games, investment in the studio, and finally, the studio is hiring, providing a much-needed boost for the UK Game Development Community.

New marketplace data shows that traffic on websites related to GTA VI increased by over 6000% on 25 June compared with the average level recorded before May. Demand remained high over the following days, with average traffic between 25 and 30 June up to almost 3000% against the same baseline.

New independent research commissioned by Rokky, the PC game distribution platform delivering publisher-approved keys to global markets, reveals that 80% of Western game developers are targeting a China release by 2028. However, regulatory concerns and limited knowledge of local publishing methods remain major roadblocks, according to the independent study conducted among 300 senior game developers across the US and the UK.

Inner Pocket, a new label co-founded by industry veterans from CRITICAL REFLEX, Gaijin Entertainment, and indie studio Nozomu Games, launches today. By combining extensive experience across games marketing, publishing services, development, and business strategy, the Inner Pocket team aims to utilize its well-rounded composition to empower indie studios.

NC (formerly NCSOFT) has announced that it will transition the global publishing service of Throne and Liberty from Amazon Game Studios to its own online publishing services this year.

GamesAid, the UK's games industry charity, has appointed six new trustees to its board - including Dom Shaw as Vice Chair, Amelia Suchy as Treasurer and Catherine Anderson as Secretary - as £82,000 raised in the 2025/26 financial year begins making a tangible difference for the seriously ill, disabled and neurodivergent children and young people it supports.

This is a press release posted alongside our usual editorial content. CodeDev Group today officially announces the launch of its new studio, Full Spectrum Interactive (FSI). Building off the group’s expert-first ethos, the new studio is steered by a core team of UK game development veterans, and is set to …

Research by distribution platform Playgama shows the number of HTML5 games released in the first half of 2025 had almost tripled year-on-year to 15,000. That's also 4.9 times the number that launched in H1 2023. Fellow distribution service Poki reports that it is seeing 100m monthly active users in 2026, up an order of magnitude since 2020's 10m.

Raptor PR, the B2B communications agency behind leading games industry, media & technology brands, today announces the launch of EGG (Early Gaming Growth), an integrated communications, reputation and growth-building platform designed for early-stage gaming technology companies.

Into Games, the UK charity widening access to games careers, has published a new evaluation of Boost, its paid work placement programme, showing that 88% of participants went on to full-time, part-time, or major freelance work in the industry after their placements ended. The charity is now raising £25,000 to fund at least 10 further placements for its 2026 cohort.